Weekly Training Recap

I promised myself I would get out of bed for the last week of ashtanga yoga. So 4:45am I was up and at em for class. It was so cold out that by the time I got back after class, I snuggled up with Kyle and Ollie in the covers and fell back asleep until 9am. Can every day be like this?

Wednesday I woke up early for class again and I already miss my early morning ashtanga crew!

After work on Wednesday I hit the running group for a tempo run. I almost went sub 9 for a 5k. Whoop.

Friday I had the day off so I attended ALLOFTHECLASSES. Starting with a shake and flow class at noon.

And then I was back to the studio a few short hours later for an awesome power vinyasa class.

Saturday I considered running after work until Ollie made it very clear that she wanted to snuggle with her mama. I listened.

Sunday I woke up early for a super stellar power vinyasa yoga class.

 I had every intention of running right after, but somehow that ended up being 6 hours later. Oops. I did manage to run my longest run since the marathon in Bemidji (what?!?!) and at a great pace for me.

Yoga Teacher Training Weekend Four

Friday night kicked off for yoga teacher training with my first experience with a mandala class. I got some new fun tank tops, so I was excited to sport those for the weekend as well. My happy place... lolz.

For those unfamiliar with mandala (like me) here's a more detailed description of what the class entailed. It was very spiritual and moving and reminded me a lot of various Native American events that I have experienced. Always striving to celebrate and heal the earth.

After the flow we went back to the studio to learn more from Erin. Erin has a yoga studio in Sioux City and went through the same teacher training that we did three years ago. To see what an awesome instructor she is in that short of time is awe inspiring. She recently completed her journeyed through the Inkan Medicine Wheel with the Four Wind's Society and became a full Mesa carrier in the Q'uero tradition. If you're like me and have no clue what all of that means, it was a very fascinating evening! We learned about her experience and the things she is passionate about and also spent some time using a special kind of sustainable wood to clear each other (similar to smudging). I didn't want to shower after because it had such a beautiful scent!

Saturday I woke up to my favorite running weather. Cool, rainy, still. Most folks were thrilled the weather was dreary, since we've had some truly sunny and gorgeous weekends where we've been "stuck" inside the studio for training. But for me, all I wanted to do was go run for a couple of hours.

sigh.

Luckily, I was treated to an awesome yoga flow to start the day, and really spoke to this runner girl: Awaken the Psoas!

This class was led by Melanie who is from Omaha with the teacher training trainers. She is an anatomy guru and was here to cover that section of our lectures. The class was awesome, but really hard for me, because my psoas are incredible TIGHT. I left the class feeling a lot looser than normal, and wished that I could have taken notes on the flow to do daily!

Then we settled in for anatomy. This was one of the sections I was most excited to learn about, and Melanie did not disappoint. I love learning from people that are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about what they're discussing. I learned so much from her.

I also got hit on by this creep.

After class, Ollie enjoyed some mom and pug time. I laid on the couch and within moments she was parked in this spot.

Sunday started with an hour long flow and then we discussed the ethics of yoga and the business side of yoga with the yoga studio owner. It was really interesting and made me realize that I don't ever want to own a studio. :P (Or a business in general for that matter, man, what a lot of work! I'll stick to my library.)

We also discussed our areas of passion with the group. My list is ever evolving and I'm fully aware that I'd need eleven lifetimes to accomplish it all. 

During the lecture portion, Becca constructed this amazing yogi recliner and I had to snap a picture to document it (and to remember it for future training weeks. What a smart chica.

The latter half of the day was spent practice teaching in small groups and then teaching the larger group. The more we practice, the more I feel like I could actual teach yoga (it's the darnest thing, I tell you). I really excited to see where this journey could take me.

Weekly Training Recap

Monday I started the day with a BarreAmped class with a new-to-me instructor. 

Tuesday I worked late due to an event, so I got to attend one of my favorite instructor's power vinyasa class in the morning. 

Wednesday I took a rest day and Thursday I went to a yoga sculpt class with my favorite sculpt class. I was lucky that my co-worker Emily wanted to give sculpt a try so I had a buddy! Yay buddies! 

Friday it was straight from work to yoga teacher training which started with my first experience with Astanga yoga. We practiced for 90 minutes with the room set up like a traditional astanga studio with two lanes facing inward with an empty lane in between us. We got to listen to the sanskrit counting and poses that we had been instructed to memorize for this weekend. Eeps.

Saturday morning we kicked off the teacher training by doing a 1 hour inversion class. I'm not very confident in my inversion practice so it was great to learn some proper technique and alignment as well as some exercises to get me flipping upside down! I also got to practice with one of my favorite pug owners Mary! She's an awesome yogi, so hopefully we get to play around more frequently! Pug yogi in the dog park has been thrown out... .somewhat seriously. :)

Sunday morning we started our session with a 30 minute yoga session where we focused on deep stretching. It may have been an "easy" flow but my arms were so dead that downward facing dog made me feel like my arms were going to fall off. :/ Throughout the day we practiced tons of Sun A and B salutations, so I feel like I have a few hours of yoga in on Sunday. 

Yoga Teacher Training Weekend One

On March 13th, I began my first night of yoga teacher training. A group of 20+ women met at my favorite yoga studio at 5:30pm for a great end of the week power vinyasa class. The instructor is the owner of Lotus House of Yoga studio of Lincoln and Omaha, and she's amazing. It was the first class I've taken from MC Sweet, and it won't be the last (spoiler alert: two more throughout the weekend!).

After we got our sweat on, we sat in a giant yogi circle and shared information about ourselves and delved into some historical information about yoga's origins. While being a self-proclaimed nerd, I must confess: I hate history. But MC is such a great teacher and storyteller that I was super engaged and enamored.

When training was over at 9pm, I hurried off to pick up some dinner as I rushed straight from an 8:30-5pm work shift, straight to teacher training and was s-t-a-r-v-i-n-g.  Mental note: pack snacks! A beer was the perfect assistant to winding down for the night before we started again the next morning!

Saturday morning started with a power vinyasa flow class open to any yogis in town, and we packed the studio FULL. It was one of the hardest classes I've taken, but it was awesome. The class was focused on the sun, and it was great to enjoy it (=suffer through it? jk) while the sun was streaming through the windows on us. 

After class we broke down a couple of basic poses--plank, downward facing down, and half lift, and we all realized that we're doing everything wrong. WELCOME TO YOGA TEACHER TRAINING, GUYS! It just goes to show that that's why it's called a practice--always room for improvement!

Saturday afternoon was more background information as well as some introduction to sanskrit. Eeps!

Sunday we started with a one hour power vinyasa flow class, and my co-worker Emily got to attend along side of me. The class was milder than Saturday's but we focused on moving very slowly during different poses and also did some intense core work right off of the bat so my abs were screaming for daaaaays.

Once we got back in the studio for training, MC asked us to grab spirit animal cards and share them with the group. I drew the stag card and was stoked because...'arry Pottah.... duh. 

I joked that I hoped there was a pug card, and that surely if there were one, I would've drawn it. And then I jokingly searching pug spirit animal information online after class and came up with this information: 

If Pug is your Animal Totem;

You are attentive to your close family members, have a great deal of charm and are very playful by nature. You enjoy quiet solitude but are also very sociable. You are very clever with problem solving, embrace change quickly and wholeheartedly, and accept things easily for what they are. You have a keen and happy go lucky attitude toward life in general and are an animated story teller. Often you will have friends on the edge of their seat with your tales.

Uh..... spot on? Holy heck.

One of the most profound moments of the weekend was when MC spoke to us about anxiety and depression. She stated that if you have issues with anxiety (hello, hi, I'm Jeri, I worry about how much I worry....) you are likely spending too much time focusing on the future, and if you have issues with depression, you are devoting too much energy focusing on the past. And one of the ways to ease either or both of these sensations is to focus on the present. 

This seems like the most simple explanation I've ever heard, but it was so profound my brain practically splattered on the walls of the yoga studio right then and there.

When I had done my introduction on Friday night, I stated that one of my goals as a person was to be more in the moment, and present, so once MC shared this information, I knew I had to pick up a new mantra band.... be present.

The weekend was amazing, and eye opening, and potentially life changing as silly as that may sound based on the minimal recap. But I'm so thankful I decided to make the leap to do this!

Namaste.

Weekly Training Recap

The weather last week was freaking gorgeous. My co-worker wanted me to meet her for Barre class on Tuesday, and I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and run. So why not run to barre? Derp. Nice hilly run to and from class.

Thursday night I went to yoga sculpt to get my sweat on. It was hard, as always.

Friday was day one of yoga teacher training, and we spent the first hour doing a power vinyasa flow class.

Saturday was day two of yoga teacher training, and we started with a huge class of awesomeness. It was one of the most challenging classes of yoga I've ever taken. It was an awesome way to start the day.

Sunday morning was an 8 limbs flow series led by the amazing MC Sweet. If I could attend a class of hers everyday for the rest of my life, I would be thrilled.

Weekly Training Recap

Monday started out with a bang. I went to a gentle vinyasa class and then returned home to hit the treadmill for three miles. (I may have found a spring race to train for, aka I'm actually driven to run again! WAHOO!)

The rest of the week was a blur of feeling run down and celebrations!

Sunday I kind of made up for things by attending a power vinyasa class followed by a group run at the running store. Luckily for me, the group was doing an "easy recovery run" the day after their long runs, so I was almost able to stick with the group keeping up a tempo pace. :P And it was shorts and t-shirt weather which is even better!

Weekly Training Recap

Monday I had a holiday from work, so I took advantage of a lunch time yoga sculpt class. It was the hottest sculpt class ever, and I almost melted. But I'm starting to feel stronger, so Yay!

Tuesday I skipped the gym to hang out with Kyle, and Wednesday I had to miss a class because there wasn't enough time to do the class, take Ollie out, and make it to the movie theater for our last Oscar movie. Ahhh.

Thursday night I attended another yoga sculpt class. These classes are harder than mile repeats + tempo runs put together (this is Jeri speak for HARD). But I'm starting to see muscles in places I didn't know muscles existed, so YAY!

I got an email an hour before power vinyasa on Friday that I was into class off the waitlist and I let out an audible whoop! We had a great flow series. When I got home I set about making a super healthy dinner, and then Kyle walked in with Qdoba. Ha. Nomnom.

Sunday morning I went to a really awesome heart opening flow. It was the best way to start the day.

Weekly Training Recap

Monday I slept in like a true champion, missing my favorite gentle vinyasa class.

Tuesday I went to Barre in the middle of the day, because I worked a random split shift at the library. I love that my muscles can shake and quake for 60 minutes and I can head back to work without showering. Considering I'm a sweat monster, this is amazing.

Wednesday it was gorgeous out, so I headed to my favorite running store for a group run. This marked my first run in 8 weeks. Whoa. That's the longest break from running I've had since 2008. :| It was a gorgeous night for running, and we ran data free and it drove me nuts. My garmin is being an a-hole and I'm less than pleased considering I bought it in April and it has less than 500 miles ran on it. Grrrrr. I'd estimate we ran somewhere in the area of 2.5-3 miles.

 

Saturday I went to the yoga studio for power vinyasa yoga. It was a great flow. I was able to hold side crow the longest ever. We even got to play with some handstands. I stuck around for yoga sculpt after, and when some of the yogis told me I was crazy, I told them that power vinyasa is fun play time and sculpt is the workout. Since I had some time in between classes, I worked on side crow more and was able to extend my legs out on one of the sides. I was pumped.

Sculpt was hard but awesome. I'm definitely going to try to fit classes in to my weekly schedule 2-3x/week.

Sunday I had big plans to go to power vinyasa and a barre bootcamp class, but blizzard conditions had me staying how on my couch. I even contemplated walking the mile to the studio but Kyle told me I couldn't because it was -15 out. Lame.